About this Research Topic
A systems-level understanding of biological systems with utmost accuracy will inform us how life is emerging from the interaction of the “non-living” molecules and will pave the way for unprecedented practices in human health, by decoding the causative effects for disease down to the level of molecules. Moreover, in order to construct biological systems with reliable functions, for applications ranging from biotechnology to industry, we need to obtain a detailed blueprint of their natural counterparts (so that we can reverse engineer them). Therefore, an accurate and quantitative understanding of biology is crucial for the precision-engineering of biological systems. A variety of emerging biotechnologies at the scale of individual cells, molecules, and atoms — including single-molecule detection, ultra-high-resolution imaging modalities, macro-, micro- and nano-fluidics, DNA origami, etc. — and the synergies between them, are making significant strides in painting a crispier picture of how biological systems function. Altogether, they provide us with principles and tools to design and engineer reliable synthetic systems and decipher biology in a more holistic fashion.
Sensitive measurements of molecular and cellular properties (e.g. digital counting methods, super-resolution fluorescence microscopy, single-cell Western blotting, single-particle cryo-EM) inform us of the intrinsic operation principles of biological systems more accurately. Furthermore, the accurate quantification of relevant biological parameters allows for better mathematical models to be developed and rigorously tested. On the other hand, precise tools — leveraging specific genome-editing methods (e.g., CRISPR), self-assembly of biomolecules and precisely-engineered scaffolds (e.g., DNA origami), and fluidic systems (e.g., organ-on-chip microfluidics, continuous batch-culturing bioreactors) — allow us to modify, control, and perturb the biological systems in a well-defined manner. Finally, sensitive measurements and precise tools feed off each other: while the latter enable unprecedented experiments, the former allow for the reliable assessment of the applied modifications and perturbations. They are also both critical for building, characterizing, analyzing, and troubleshooting synthetic systems, and are therefore of utmost interest to render synthetic biology a true engineering discipline.
This research topic aims to present new findings and recent developments, highlight current and future challenges in these areas, and document required improvements that are needed to tackle these challenges.
The types of submissions we welcome include, but are not limited to:
• Review of methods for high-accuracy measurements — e.g. high temporal (or spatial) resolution imaging (or measurement) tools, quantification of abundance (or stoichiometry) of biomolecules in cells (or complex fluids), sequencing nucleic acids (or proteins), etc.
• Review of methods for the realization of high-precision architectures and manipulations — e.g. DNA origami, self-assembled nanoparticle scaffolds, single-base resolution genome editing, macro- and microfluidic systems for high-precision continuous cell-culturing, etc.
• Review of discoveries enabled by using such methods
• Original research describing such methods and experimental findings obtained via their application.
• Computation, theory and modeling (including simulations).
• Tools for data analysis of the aforementioned types of measurements
• Opinion (e.g. for how quantitative measurements inform biology or applications in biotechnology)
• Future perspective (e.g. current challenges in quantitative biology or high-precision manipulation/control tools, what needs to be achieved in the next decade, and what insights can be gained)
Sensitive measurements of molecular and cellular properties (e.g. digital counting methods, super-resolution fluorescence microscopy, single-cell Western blotting, single-particle cryo-EM) inform us of the intrinsic operation principles of biological systems more accurately. Furthermore, the accurate quantification of relevant biological parameters allows for better mathematical models to be developed and rigorously tested. On the other hand, precise tools — leveraging specific genome-editing methods (e.g., CRISPR), self-assembly of biomolecules and precisely-engineered scaffolds (e.g., DNA origami), and fluidic systems (e.g., organ-on-chip microfluidics, continuous batch-culturing bioreactors) — allow us to modify, control, and perturb the biological systems in a well-defined manner. Finally, sensitive measurements and precise tools feed off each other: while the latter enable unprecedented experiments, the former allow for the reliable assessment of the applied modifications and perturbations. They are also both critical for building, characterizing, analyzing, and troubleshooting synthetic systems, and are therefore of utmost interest to render synthetic biology a true engineering discipline.
This research topic aims to present new findings and recent developments, highlight current and future challenges in these areas, and document required improvements that are needed to tackle these challenges.
The types of submissions we welcome include, but are not limited to:
• Review of methods for high-accuracy measurements — e.g. high temporal (or spatial) resolution imaging (or measurement) tools, quantification of abundance (or stoichiometry) of biomolecules in cells (or complex fluids), sequencing nucleic acids (or proteins), etc.
• Review of methods for the realization of high-precision architectures and manipulations — e.g. DNA origami, self-assembled nanoparticle scaffolds, single-base resolution genome editing, macro- and microfluidic systems for high-precision continuous cell-culturing, etc.
• Review of discoveries enabled by using such methods
• Original research describing such methods and experimental findings obtained via their application.
• Computation, theory and modeling (including simulations).
• Tools for data analysis of the aforementioned types of measurements
• Opinion (e.g. for how quantitative measurements inform biology or applications in biotechnology)
• Future perspective (e.g. current challenges in quantitative biology or high-precision manipulation/control tools, what needs to be achieved in the next decade, and what insights can be gained)
Keywords: single-cell and single-molecule analysis, high-resolution imaging and quantification, nanofluidics and microfluidics, automated continuous cell-culture systems, DNA origami and self-assembled scaffolds, single-base resolution genome editing
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
